Recently came across two bits of information that will no doubt kill any conversation stone dead if I throw them in. Question: has anyone else got some of these useful nuggets stored in their brain and would they care to add them to this thread?

1. The word "boudoir" comes from "bouder" - French for to sulk or to pout. So a boudoir is where a lady goes and has a good sulk.

2. The word "flamenco" appeared when the Spanish thought the gypsies who arrived in their country with this dance were Flemish (Belgian), so they named the style of dance after them.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -- Winston Churchill

I have a great mind for useless information, lol. I can only think of one for now, (of course mine is cat related):if a tortie cat is cloned you will never get a tortie copy - only one or two of the tortie colours ie black/ginger/white (or if dilute: blue/cream/white).

Honeybun wrote:I have a great mind for useless information, lol. I can only think of one for now, (of course mine is cat related):if a tortie cat is cloned you will never get a tortie copy - only one or two of the tortie colours ie black/ginger/white (or if dilute: blue/cream/white).

I didn't know that. Will make use of this as soon as I can.

More, please, people. You must all walk around with hundreds of pointless factoids we need to know.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -- Winston Churchill

Here's the one I can come up with (also cat related)" The gene that makes a Manx cat is actually a lethal recessive. When you breed two parents with the recessive, the textbook litter of four should have 2 normal kittens--both of whom will be carriers for the lethal--one with Manx characteristics, and one stillborn, because all the recessive traits have showed up.

I remember learning that in biology in 7th grade, and I always found it fascinating.

"You're as likely to contact the Universal Mind with a spell from a book as you are to reach the White House dialing random numbers into a phone."

Here's the one I can come up with (also cat related)" The gene that makes a Manx cat is actually a lethal recessive. When you breed two parents with the recessive, the textbook litter of four should have 2 normal kittens--both of whom will be carriers for the lethal--one with Manx characteristics, and one stillborn, because all the recessive traits have showed up.

I remember learning that in biology in 7th grade, and I always found it fascinating.

That is excellent, Grim. I will try that out next time I want to amaze people with my knowledge. We didn't do much on genes in biology. Or maybe I wasn't paying much attention.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -- Winston Churchill

Everyone has probably heard this one already--that women who live in the same household and have menstrual periods, they will synchronize and have them at the same time. I've never been able to prove or disprove this, as Mom was menopausal before I hit puberty, and I've never had female roommates, other than visiting for a few days.

If you plant something from seed, it may or may not be exactly like the parent plant, but if you start a new plant from a cutting, it is essentially a clone, as it is from the same plant.